As a way to package a wet sheet or other sheet-shaped material, it is known, for example, to impregnate a wet sheet with cosmetic preparation, chemical solution, etc., and then individually package the wet sheet so that the package will be opened and the wet sheet inside will be taken out and used when necessary. When it comes to using such wet sheets, traditionally multiple individually packaged wet sheets are packed in a single bag and, to use the sheets, the individual packages must be taken out from the bag and opened separately; however, such wet sheets are not easy to use because their package must be opened separately one by one to use the sheet, although the individual packaging prevents growth of bacteria and attachment of contaminants.
In addition, types of wet sheets that are widely used include multiple wet tissues, body wipes or other relatively large wet sheets that are folded and stacked in a pop-up manner and stored in a plastic container or packaged in a pillow bag. Just like tissue papers, some wet sheets are placed in a box or bag and pulled out one by one from the opening provided at the top of the box or in one area of the bag to be used. However, wet sheets must be folded in a special manner to allow for removal from the opening one by one, which makes the manufacturing process complex.
On the other hand, an art of packaging small wet sheets (such as small-sized pads and partial facial masks) individually and then layering and storing them in a sealable container is also widely used.
An example of stacking such multiple small wet sheets in a box or bag is found in Patent Literature 1 where pads impregnated with cosmetic preparation are stacked and stored in a container so that the pads are removed one by one from the opening provided at the top of the container for use, or in Patent Literature 2 that describes a container in which pads impregnated with cosmetic preparation are stacked in such a way that the pads are layered while partially overlapping with each other to allow the overlapping parts to be removed from the lidded opening provided at the top of the container.
Patent Literature 3 describes a flexible material dispensing container characterized in that one plastic sheet is folded to form a molding of roughly W shape in cross section having two exterior walls and two interior walls and the upper sections of the exterior walls are partially cut off to provide a dispensing outlet; however, this container is not sealable and no means are available, either, for sealing the dispensing outlet formed by the cutout.
Means for stacking and storing pads in a container without individually packaging them so that the pads are removed one by one from the outlet at the top of the container, such as the means described in Patent Literatures 1 and 2 above, require that the pads, after removal from the container, must be spread by two hands for use because they are folded in a certain manner.
In addition, the art described in Patent Literature 1 causes the wet sheets to easily stick together, resulting in insufficient operability to separate and remove the wet sheets one by one. To solve this problem, a method of stacking wet sheets by offsetting the positions of adjacent sheets is proposed in Patent Literature 2, but since a large container is required relative to the original area size of the sheet, this method is not desirable in terms of cost and reduction of waste material.